In the sixteenth part of Thud!<\/i>, Vimes reckons with the attack on his family. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of neo-fascism and neo-Nazism, general talk of bigotry, police brutality.<\/b><\/p>\n
Holy shit. This is… I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m blown away.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weird to talk about this in a modern perspective, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often a dissonance between a work that was produced years before it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dissected. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that is sometimes hard to ignore, but I find it meaningful when the opposite happens. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a joy in experiencing a story that rings true long after it was completed. And while there hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been that much time passed since Thud!<\/i> came out, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniable at this point that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge part of this novel that fits neatly into the narrative of 2018. Not intended\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbecause who REALLY writes a book about racial tension, xenophobia, and complicity and hopes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll still be happening years later!!!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand yet still a thrilling element of the story.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n WHEW LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What Talks Underground?<\/b><\/p>\n I am not fully sure exactly how much of this was hinted at before beyond what Vimes saw in the Treacle Street mine, and even if that was the only mention of these Devices, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not surprised I only barely remembered them. So… what the fuck<\/i>? I am on the same page as Vimes here, and trying to figure out how this plays into everything is frustrating. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve accepted that this is what the deep-down dwarfs were looking for. But why<\/i>? What was in this cube that was so specifically what they needed? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotta be connected to Rascal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s painting, but did it inspire<\/i> the painting, or is it the clue that Rascal put into<\/i> the painting? Ugh, what if I am also<\/i> making the wrong assumption here??? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I know you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re laughing at me, but I still feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m missing so many parts to this!!! What could this Device possibly<\/i> say that would inspire dwarfs to murder their own?<\/p>\n Bonding<\/b><\/p>\n I… ship it? Oh no, once Angua made that bondage joke, I was DONE. This has all the makings of enemies-to-lovers, one of my favorite tropes in the world, and I know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not actually<\/i> going to happen, but… oh. No. STOP ME.<\/p>\n Anyway, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll repeat what I said on video because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a neat thing Pratchett is doing here. Now that the game of Thud<\/i> has been spelled out for me, I can see how Angua and Sally are, more or less, playing a version of it themselves. Both of them are in a situation that is requiring them to think of things in terms of the other person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience. It may seem simplistic\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlike a board game would on the surface\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut the look at how the conversation unfolds in the Watch house\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shower. Their exchange is so raw and honest, and I know that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s partially because Sally is so forward. She has to be, though, because she sense that a bunch of uncomfortable things left unsaid are going to sour things between them. Like, she straight-up states that she knows that Angua thinks she is trying to impress Carrot, and it leads to this incredible exchange:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stay out of people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hearts,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she growled.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t switch off your nose, can you? Can you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n The moment of the wolf had passed. Angua relaxed a little. His heart beat faster, did it?<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And in this instance, even if Angua is fighting it the whole time, Angua has the tiniest epiphany about Sally. Pratchett makes it clear that these two don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t share specific experiences, and this conversation gives us some examples. But there is a larger, more general experience that they do<\/i> share, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something to appreciate about that<\/i>. I feel like Sally is more willing to bridge the gaps between them at this point\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe invitation to go drink is a sign of that\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut I think Angua is coming around, too.<\/p>\n Pessimal<\/b><\/p>\n Well, this was a pleasant turn of events! Foreshadowed by Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frustration with his seemingly endless workload, as well as the Gooseberry subplot, Pessimal has found his way into the Watch: as Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s adjutant. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a man who has an intense attention to detail, who does care about the rules, and who can assist Vimes in a very<\/i> efficient manner. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S PERFECT, ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T IT.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A Whirlwind of Wrath<\/b><\/p>\n There are two things at work in the final scene of this split: an incredible commentary on complicity, and an incredible commentary on one of the reasons police brutality still exists. Pratchett weaves them together within Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s righteous anger, but he does not leave out power<\/i>. Vimes has a power that others do not as a member of the Watch and he nearly uses it; the dwarfs within Ankh-Morpork\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mine had a power they did not utilize, but they should have. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll start with the latter because this section destroyed me:<\/p>\n Did you dare deplore what Hamcrusher said, all that bile and ancient lies? Or did you say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree with him, of course, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a point\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? Did you say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, he goes too far, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time somebody said it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not wrong here! We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve literally watched the rise of so many right-wing, fascist, and neo-Nazi organizations and movements happen because so many people casually<\/i> agreed with them; because so many people still gave them a platform and assumed that we could defeat them in the mythical marketplace of ideas. When you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t challenge shit like this, it makes the people saying it and believing it and perpetrating it think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay<\/i>. So, on this level, Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rage is spot-on; Pratchett never makes it seem like it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s silly that Vimes is as angry about what just happened to him. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intensely<\/i> understandable! Who wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> be furious with this group???<\/p>\n Thus, Pratchett sets up the next chilling moment. Vimes is basically waiting for any<\/i> tiny moment in which he can unleash his full fury on these dwarfs, many of whom might very well have been complicit in the rise of the deep-down dwarfs and their movement. And lord, Vimes gets REALLY close to that moment, and I honestly braced myself for it. It seemed so inevitable! Plus, Vimes was dropping shit like THIS on the reader:<\/p>\n You could have stopped them, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how you could have helped. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give me those somber faces. Maybe you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153yes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but you sure as hell didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d loud enough.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n HI, EVERYTHING IS SO UNCOMFORTABLE. This is so powerful!!! And as Vimes lets one sarcastic and angry line after another slip out of his mouth, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a newcomer\u00e2\u20ac\u201dBashful Bashfullson\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho delivers the next powerful moment:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t habitually beat up prisoners, if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re suggesting,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Vimes.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And I am sure you would not wish to do so tonight.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n With just ONE SENTENCE, Bashfullson recognizes Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anger, does not criticize him for feeling it, but reminds him just how close he is to acting<\/i> on it. Lord, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all:<\/p>\n Beating people up in little rooms… he knew where that led. And if you did it for a good reason, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d do it for a bad one. You couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the good guys\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and do bad-guy things. Sometimes the watching watchman inside every good copper\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head could use an extra pair of eyes.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s astounding to me there, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but note how quickly Vimes comes to this conclusion when it is so goddamn hard for American members of law enforcement\u00e2\u20ac\u201din whatever branch they might be in\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto say the same thing. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the many contributors to the persistence of police brutality in my country: a refusal to admit that even if you intend to be a good cop, you might be tempted to use your power to do something very, very bad. I believe that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a connection here to the continued narrative of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good cop\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thrown around once you ever bring up police brutality. And I think it ties back to what Vimes thought earlier! Maybe a cop didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree to or participate in an act of brutality, but what did you do to stop it<\/i>? Anything at all?<\/p>\n I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mentioned before that I have a complicated relationship with stories about law enforcement, but shit like this makes a world of different to people like me who have experienced police brutality. It may seem like drops of water on a mountain, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an ocean<\/i> to me.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One more thing:\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They killed my son,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Ironcrust.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are just SO MANY devastating sentences in this section, and with this one, the price paid by these dwarfs is made clear. Ironcrust\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s son didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what he was getting involved in, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t knowingly complicit in anything; rather, he was exploited, and these terrible deep-down dwarfs used his eagerness and then disposed of him as soon as they could.<\/p>\n THIS BOOK IS SO MUCH.<\/p>\n https:\/\/youtu.be\/WYpd9NvyQyw<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the sixteenth part of Thud!, Vimes reckons with the attack on his family. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,248,554],"class_list":["post-4834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-thud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}